


Anything That Catches Your Eye

by laurus_nobilis



Category: Captain America (Movies), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Clara's echoes, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-19
Updated: 2015-06-19
Packaged: 2018-04-05 02:18:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4161903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurus_nobilis/pseuds/laurus_nobilis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clara leaves his date to follow the Doctor on an adventure. Or: there is something strange going on at Stark Expo, and even Howard isn't sure of what.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anything That Catches Your Eye

**Author's Note:**

> Written for round 5 of Gen Prompt Bingo, with the prompt "Crossover: TV shows and movies".

Clara thought the date was going well enough. Or at least it wasn't a complete disaster. Bucky told them that his friend had disappeared to who knows where, which was the bad news, but now he was trying his best to make both of them still have a good time. Maybe Ann wouldn't be too angry at her for bringing her along, once she'd had a few dances with the Sarge. It was her turn, now, so Clara was waiting and eating some popcorn. She was also beginning to get a little bored.

It wouldn't hurt if she walked around a bit, she thought. All she had to do was return in a few minutes, and in the meantime she could see more of the Expo. No reason to just stand there and look at the others dance.

She hadn't gone very far when she noticed something strange. There was an odd looking man with square glasses near Stark's flying car exhibit. And she meant _really_ near - far more than the general public was allowed. As in _poking it_. The even stranger thing was, nobody seemed to be paying attention. Even with all the couples dancing, someone surely must have noticed him, right? She walked a little closer to get a better look. The man wasn't the kind that would stand out in a crowd, perhaps, but there was still something not quite right about him. His pinstriped suit was messy, his hair was even worse, and for some reason he was wearing athletic shoes to an exhibition. When he started pointing at the places where the car's wheels had been with a noisy gadget unlike anything Clara had ever seen, she couldn't hold back her curiosity anymore.

"Are you sure you're allowed to do that?"

"I'm sure I'm not," he said without turning to look at her. "Never stopped me before."

"So you come into exhibitions and like this one and start touching things?" she asked. "Just like that?"

"No, no, of course not. Only when it's dangerous," the man replied. "Or when it's shiny. Mostly when it's shiny."

Clara's interest suddenly turned into worry. Either this person wasn't quite right in the head, or worse, he knew what he was talking about.

"Danger-- is there something wrong with Mr Stark's car?"

"No. Well, yes, there are a lot of things wrong with it, but nothing that's about to blow up. No, the problem must be somewhere else."

"But there _is_ a problem," Clara said. "Here. Now. Oh dear, _are_ we about to blow up?"

"If you keep distracting me, maybe." He jumped off the stage, put his hands in his pockets, and started walking. "I have work to do."

Clara followed him before he had a chance to disappear into the crowd. He walked fast and was much taller than her, so it was a bit of a challenge, but she managed to catch up.

"I want to help, then."

"You? Why?"

"Because I don't want to blow up!"

He kept walking without turning around to look at her, but at least he seemed willing to talk. That was good enough for now. She could work with that.

"Well, of course. Nobody wants that," he said. "But why do you think you _can_ help? What are your not-blowing-up skills?"

"I..." She thought about it for a moment. "I've been not-blowing-up all my life?"

That got him to stop. Clara thought she might have been too silly - even for this very silly stranger - but when he turned around to look at her, he was grinning.

"Oh, I like you," he replied. "I'm the Doctor!"

"Clara Oswald. Doctor--?"

"Just the Doctor. Now hurry, we need to figure out what's the problem here."

He started moving again, and if he was going in any particular direction apart from where the crowd let him pass, Clara couldn't notice. Everything was happening so fast that it took her a second to realize that something didn't quite fit with the rest of what he had just said.

"Wait. What do you mean 'figure out'?" she asked. "I thought you already knew what is going on."

"I know there _is_ a problem." He had brought out that gadget again and started pointing it in every direction. She wondered if it was a compass of sorts, something he was following, but then decided it was better to focus on one question at a time and let him finish speaking. "My sonic screwdriver is picking up a distress signal that I don't like one bit, but with all the tech around us it might take a while to find it. And until I do, I can't be sure of exactly what it does."

"So it might not be something that explodes after all?"

"Eh. It's a distress signal. I wouldn't be too confident," he replied, which wasn't very reassuring.

The Doctor kept walking a little longer, stopped abruptly, changed direction and started again. This happened several times. It made navigating the place a little difficult. Clara had a lot more questions to ask, but it seemed smarter to not interrupt for now. He looked quite focused. After what felt like an eternity, he stopped next to one of the exhibits. It was one that she hadn't paid attention before, just three mannequins dressed in futuristic clothes. It didn't look very interesting at all. It wasn't _bad_ , of course, or it wouldn't have made it to the Expo, but it was somewhat... generic. Just metallic colors, blinking lights, that sort of thing. Clara had seen plenty of 'fashion of the future' ideas by now, and this one wasn't particularly original.

"Are you sure this is it? It looks harmless."

"I wouldn't say 'harmless'. I'd say it's _boring_." The Doctor stepped over the barrier and started pointing at things with that thing he had called a screwdriver. It was making beeping noises now. He grinned at Clara. "And boring isn't Stark's style, don't you think?"

"No, it isn't," said a new voice. A _familiar_ voice. Clara gasped and turned to see Howard Stark himself standing right behind them. Because she could say anything at all, he continued speaking. "I'd love to tell you to get off my exhibit, pal, but you're right about one thing. That isn't _my_ exhibit."

"Mr Stark! It's _so_ great to meet you!"

The Doctor jumped off the stage and shook Stark's hand, grinning brightly. He looked just as giddy about it as any regular fan would. For a moment, Clara thought that he was trying to change the subject to get away from trouble, but it soon became obvious to her that all this enthusiasm couldn't be faked. Stark must have been used to all kinds of reactions like that, because he simply went with it. He immediately returned to the issue at hand.

"Any ideas about where that came from, then? I expected people to try and _steal_ parts of these projects, but to add their own... What's the point? Attention?"

"How would that work?" Clara asked, frowning slightly. "Even if people like it, they wouldn't know who put it there. They'd just assume it's part of Stark Expo."

"Most people would," said Stark. "But I'd notice. I _did_ notice. If it was a call for attention, it's working."

"Those are very good theories," the Doctor agreed. "But they're wrong. They don't want attention. They want to _fit in_. Go unnoticed."

Stark stared at him for a moment, then nodded slowly, as if he'd just got the idea. Clara hadn't. She looked from one to the other, and when it became clear that neither of them was going to explain, she coughed.

"I'm not sure I follow."

"Think about it," said the Doctor. It didn't sound condescending, in spite of the wording. It was more like a teacher trying to explain something he found very interesting. "If you were an alien trying to hide advanced technology, what better place to do it than in the exhibition of the future?"

"Oh! That makes se-- wait. Alien?"

" _Alien_?" repeated Stark in turn. "I thought you meant German."

"You know," said Clara, frowning at the Doctor, "you just lost all of your credibility."

"Why? You can believe a car can fly but not there is life elsewhere in the universe? Because let me tell you, that's far less likely."

"That car _will_ fly."

"That's not the point right now." The Doctor waved his hands. "The point is figuring out why these aliens need our help."

Clara raised her hand like a kid in school. It felt kind of silly, but it did work to get both of their attentions.

"Wait a second. You keep changing the story, now," she said to the Doctor. "A few minutes ago you said they were trying to blow us up."

"Well, no, I said we _might_ blow up. Not that they would do it on purpose. It's a distress signal, remember? They don't want to hurt anyone, they just want to ask for our assistance." He made a dramatic pause, and took off his glasses in an even more theatrical way. " _But_ they might still explode if we can't help, don't rule that out yet."

"Unless," Stark said, "it's a way to lure us into a trap." 

"Humans. Always so pessimistic." 

_Humans_ , he said. As if he wasn't part of them. All of a sudden, Clara felt almost dizzy. This entire situation was ridiculous. She had just followed a complete stranger for no reason, and now he was talking about life from the stars calling for help. Her common sense told her that he was either out of his mind or pulling a very elaborate prank - on Stark, probably, and she'd just been caught in the middle of it because of her curiosity. And yet her gut told her otherwise. That, this time, she shouldn't be listening to common sense at all. 

"All right," she said after a few moments, and continued by asking the only question that seemed to matter at the time. "So what do we do?" 

"That's more like it!" the Doctor said, grinning brightly once again. "First of all, we decipher their signal." 

"Right here? With all these people around?" Stark didn't look too convinced. 

The Doctor shrugged. 

"Why not? You're the owner. You can poke at your own exhibits all you want, nothing strange about that." 

"But that's going to make it look like I'm presenting unfinished exhibits. I can't do that!" 

"Right. Unlike that car." 

"I liked the car," Clara chimed in. Stark looked at her with a mixture of pride and relief. 

" _Thank you_." 

"We'll talk about that later," the Doctor said, waving his hand dismissively, as if he hadn't been the one who'd brought up the subject again. Then he stepped onto the stage and gestured for them to follow. "Come on, let's take a look." 

"Do you know anything about decoding stress signals?" Stark asked her. 

"Me? Oh, no. I'm just following to see what happens." 

"That's as good a reason as any," the Doctor said in her defense. "In fact, it might be better than most." 

"How about we get on with it?" Stark intervened. "People are beginning to stare." 

"I thought you liked being the center of attention." 

"I also like to choose _how_." 

"Uh, I don't mean to interrupt the bickering act," Clara said, "but the lights on this suit are starting to blink faster." 

Stark leaned forward, taking a closer look at said lights. For a few seconds, he just stared at them in silence. 

"It seems to be some kind of pattern," he said, then looked at the Doctor. "Do aliens know Morse code?" 

"Well, some of us do." 

"Doctor..." 

"And so do they," he went on as if nothing had happened. "That, or they're using a universal translator, but the end result is the same." 

"They must not know about the S.O.S. convention, though. It's just saying 'help'." 

"Only that?" asked Clara. "Not _how_ we can help?" 

"Just 'help' in a loop," Stark confirmed after staring at the lights for a little longer. 

"All right, then we solve the mystery!" The Doctor was practically bouncing on his feet. "Look for anything strange or out of place! Anything that catches your eye!" 

"In an exhibition like this?" Clara said. " _Everything_ catches my eye." 

"Why, thank you," said Stark, and his smile was suddenly very charming. "That was the idea." 

"Oh, stop flirting, you two. Pay attention!" 

"I am paying attention! And there's something I still don't understand," said Clara. "First you said they were trying to hide in plain sight. Then that they're asking for help. So, which is it? If they need help, they also need attention, right? Hiding sounds like it'd be a drawback." 

"It's both. They _need_ to be found, yes, but not just by anyone. This way they make sure it's somebody who's curious and open-minded enough to take a closer look." 

"Isn't that a little picky, when you're in trouble?" 

"Depends. Think about it!" The Doctor had started his usual 'pacing and waving his screwdriver around' act again, by now. "You're a crowd of people who have no idea alien life even exists. Your country is at war. You're in a peaceful meeting in a public place, full of people - full of _civilians_ , innocent bystanders. And suddenly there are blinding lights or loud noises or something like that, something huge enough to drown the lights and noises from the exhibition itself. Do you really think that'd go well?" 

"We'd think we're under attack," Stark said with a frown. "No, scratch that. We'd _retaliate_." 

"Exactly. But now, we know what to look for." 

"Well... Not really," Clara intervened. "At least I still don't. That was very vague, you know." 

"Wellll, you see--" 

"You're improvising," said Stark. It was not a question. 

"I prefer to call it 'keeping an open mind'. But, yes. Technically. Don't worry, it works. For example! I can tell you right now that the blinky clothes on these mannequins aren't just for communication." 

"What do you mean?" asked Clara. 

"I think their ship itself is here," the Doctor explained. He waved his hands around, making a vague signal at the entire outfits. 

"What?" Clara stared at him as if he had gone mad, for what felt like the hundredth time since they had first talked not even an hour ago. "But it can't be. It would have to be tiny." 

"So? Not everything is human-sized, you know." 

"You mean any little thing here could be a ship?" asked Stark. He stared at the mannequins with an almost defeated expression. "How are we supposed to even notice which one, then?" 

"We start poking them," the Doctor said, perfectly serious. "If it's important, it's going to have an alarm." 

"What if it has a defense system too, then? I know _I'd_ put one." 

"Well, we gotta take _some_ risks." 

"Not with all these people here!" Clara intervened. "I thought we had agreed about the not blowing up part." 

"A defense system isn't going to blow the whole thing up. Especially if they just want some help so they can go home," replied the Doctor, with a tone that she didn't like at all. She didn't appreciate being talked down to, that was for sure. "But it might sting a little." 

"Look, mister, if you're going to change your story about what's going on every five minutes, you don't get to blame people for not keeping up." 

"All right, all right," he sighed, although he didn't sound very convinced. "But seriously, let's just start trying this out. One mannequin each, come on." 

They began right away, without wasting any more time. Clara was very cautious, almost not daring to touch the so-called clothes on the mannequin closest to her. She poked the metallic looking shirt with the tip of her finger, and nothing happened. She took a quick look at what the others were doing. Stark seemed to be careful, but he also moved with the confidence of someone who was used to tinkering with machines that may or may not explode on his face at any given moment. The Doctor, on the other hand, was very casual, getting his hands on everything without any kind of caution at all. It made Clara wince, and she went back to her own work, trying not to look too worried. 

She was almost sure that nothing at all was going to happen, when touching a button on the shirt set off some of the blinking lights on a _different_ mannequin's hat to move faster. 

"Doctor...? Was that me?" 

"I think it was!" he exclaimed, and stopped to take a closer look at the hat. "Do it again!" 

Clara pushed the same button one more time, and the speed of the lights increased. 

"Yes! Yes, you found it! Great job!" the Doctor laughed. He sounded so enthusiastic that Clara couldn't bring herself to remind him that she had just been pushing buttons at random. Soon enough, however, the colorful lights began to slow down until they stopped completely. 

"What happened?" she asked. 

"It looks like it's working. That is, it's not broken, but it can't keep up," said Stark. "I think it needs fuel. Do we know what kind of fuel they use, Doctor?" 

"Not yet, but we're about to find out." He pointed his screwdriver towards the ship again. If it really worked and it wasn't all just for show, then it was almost like a magic wand, that gadget. He never even seemed to change its settings or anything of the like. "... Oh. Oh, this is going to be difficult." 

"Is it something we don't have here at the Expo?" 

"Something we don't have here on Earth," the Doctor replied. "But we'll work around that." 

"How can we work around it _not being on Earth_? That's a bit much, don't you think?" 

"Now, Clara, be more open-minded. We can find something that's close enough. Even if it doesn't last for long, it should take them far enough so they can refuel properly." 

"I found out about aliens existing less than half an hour ago. I think I'm being open-minded enough." 

"You know, Doctor, she does have a point." 

"Oh, now you're teaming up, I see. That's nice." 

"How about we focus on finding that fuel equivalent?" said Stark. "Before people start coming over to see why I'm spending so much time here next to the most boring exhibit of them all?" 

"Why is that a problem?" Clara asked. Surely it couldn't bother him that people might think he was doing something less than fascinating, right? She knew he was kind of vain, but still... 

"Because they will stop thinking it's boring and come to see what we're doing," he explained. 

"Oh. That makes sense." 

"You could keep talking, or you could help me with this," the Doctor intervened. He had moved on to something different than pointing metal sticks at things, at last. He was crouching on the floor now and tinkering with something that Clara couldn't see from her current position. She walked around him to get a proper look. 

"What's that?" 

"Batteries. I'm trying to find all I can," he said, taking more things from his pockets than should have been possible. "Sure, they're not too common yet, you don't even have remote controls, but maybe flashlights? A radio? Something?" 

"Doctor?" Stark interrupted his rant looking, Clara had to admit it, kind of smug. "Remember that car you don't like?" 

The Doctor's face immediately brightened up. 

"And that's why you're a genius. Come on, everyone, let's take these over to the car! One mannequin each!" 

"Wait. The whole thing?" Clara asked. "I can't carry a mannequin that far. I'm tiny!" 

"Oh, they're not that heavy. Besides, the button you pushed and the lights that it turned on were in different places. We don't know if there are more parts scattered all over, so yes, the whole thing." 

"Well, _fine_. But I'm going to look ridiculous." 

She walked towards the smallest mannequin of the three and tried to pick it up. It turned out not to be as heavy as she had expected, but it was still taller than her, which made it difficult to move around. Clara consoled herself with the idea that the Doctor and Stark looked just as ridiculous as she did and followed them a few steps behind, trying not to think of all the people staring at them. It felt like forever until they reached the car. By the time she put down the mannequin, with a sigh of relief, Stark had already opened its hood. 

"All right, just let me get the cables--" 

"I have those! No problem!" said the Doctor. He took a couple of cables out of his pockets, now, and this time he must have noticed Clara's confused expression because he winked at her. "Bigger on the inside." 

By this point, Clara had decided that it was better not to ask. She'd been planning on just watching as they worked, but it turned out that wasn't going to be a possibility after all. Between the odd spectacle of their moving the mannequins around, and Stark tinkering with the flying car, they had managed to attract people. Her first instinct was to tell the newcomers that there was nothing to see here, but she realized that would only make them more curious. At least, it would have made _her_ more curious. Instead, she turned to face the public trying to look as official as possible. 

"Please be patient," she told them. "Mr. Stark is still working on this part of the exhibit. We will announce it when it's ready." 

"Almost done over here!" said Stark from behind her. He was back to his show business voice, which proved that he'd caught on to the idea, but Clara hoped he was also telling the truth. She doubted she could keep people away for very long. 

"You heard it from the man himself! Just a few more minutes and--" 

"Done!" the Doctor interrupted. 

Clara turned around, her own curiosity too strong to keep pretending she was part of the exhibition's staff. But nothing was happening. Then, all of a sudden, the blinking lights turned on again. This time they were even faster, more colorful, and they made beeping noises to match their movement. People were starting to crowd around them by now, so she really hoped this wouldn't turn out to be disappointing. Soon enough, something else began to happen. 

It turned out that there wasn't a single ship, but instead several of them. What looked like hats and shoulder pads and other pieces of clothing began to move on its own, separating from the mannequins they had been on. They hovered nearby for a few seconds, right next to the now bare mannequins. Then, with a single impulse, they all shot up at the same time, leaving a trail of color from the fast-moving lights behind them. People started to cheer, certain that this was all part of the show. It _was_ quite impressive, Clara thought. She was about to cheer herself before she remembered she was supposed to be part of the staff. Stark, ever the showman, was acting as if everything had been his idea all along. He was quite convincing about it, too. 

She turned to say something to the Doctor, but he wasn't there. 

It took her a moment to spot him, or rather his tell-tale messy hair, among the crowd. Clara pushed her way through the people around her as fast as she could. She was out of breath when she finally managed to grab the sleeve of his coat. 

"Where do you think you're going?" 

"Away," he said. "I came here to fix a problem. Now it's fixed." 

"And now you're leaving, just like that? Not even a goodbye?" 

"I'm not all that great at goodbyes," said the Doctor with a shrug. 

"So you don't even try? That's lazy." 

"Hey!" 

"What? I'm just saying," Clara replied with a perfectly innocent look. The Doctor rolled his eyes at her, but then he grinned, just a little. 

"It's more complicated than 'lazy'," he defended himself. "Besides, what about you? Did _you_ say goodbye to Stark?" 

"Well... no," she admitted. "But it's not like I'm running away. And he's right there. You're just-- you're really leaving, aren't you? Into space?" 

"Space _and_ time," he corrected. Somehow it didn't sound smug, just... enthusiastic. Clara shook her head, now with a grin of her own. 

"I'm still having trouble believing just the 'space' part. 'Time' is a bit too much, don't you think?" 

"I can _so_ travel through time." 

"Really? Can you prove it?" 

"Of course not. I mean, it's possible, but I really shouldn't. Changing the time-space continuum and all of that. It's not like I can just show people around, you know." 

"That sounds like an excuse," said Clara. "You should have some kind of proof, you see. Even if it's something small. Even if it's just a cheap trick!" 

This time, the Doctor looked genuinely interested. 

"What do you mean, cheap trick?" 

"I don't know, something silly." She shrugged. "Changing your tie or something like that. Surely that can't ruin the time-space continuum too much." 

"Hm. I guess that could work," he said. "Too late now, though." 

"Right. I mean, you can't go back in time, after all." 

"Oh, don't get clever with me," the Doctor said. But he was grinning. "I'm the clever one." 

"And the modest one, too." 

"Of course." His smiled softened a little. "Still, you were pretty clever too." 

"Thank you! It's a pity Ann wouldn't believe me even if I told-- oh. Oh dear." 

"What? What is it?" 

"I was on a date! Oh, they will never speak to me again... Is it too bad if two different people disappear from a double date?" 

"... riiight, I'd say that's not exactly a good sign." 

"Well, it's not like we disappeared _together_ , at least." 

"At least." 

"But I should still go back," she sighed. 

It sounded more wistful than she had expected, which surprised her. She liked the Sarge. She'd been having fun, too, before all this. But now... she would have to explain where she'd been. And how could she possibly do that? There was no way they'd believe what just happened. She would need to come up with a good excuse. 'I went to see what Mr Stark was doing with those lights' only worked for the last few minutes, after all. Clara instinctively looked back to where she'd last seen her friends, almost expecting to see them, but she couldn't find them at first sight among the crowd. With yet another sigh, she turned towards the Doctor. 

He was gone. 

Served her right, she thought, for doing precisely that to Ann and Bucky. After Bucky's friend had already gone and left them, too. This time she didn't try to follow the Doctor, and instead returned to where they had been before any of all this had happened. She found them still dancing, as if nothing had happened - or, more likely, as if they'd gotten bored of waiting for her. She couldn't blame them. For a moment, she considered just leaving again, going home and avoiding having to explain things until at least the next day. But that would be silly. She waited nearby until the music stopped and her friends approached arm in arm. 

"There you are!" Ann said when she saw her. "Where have you been?" 

"I went to look at an exhibit while you were dancing and I got a bit distracted," Clara said. It was _technically_ true. "Sorry. But you two had fun, anyway, right?" 

She hoped her expression looked enthusiastic and not just tense. Or guilty. 

"Don't worry. It all worked out in the end," said Bucky, with that usual charming grin of his, and offered her his free arm. 

Clara couldn't quite tell if he meant it or if he was just trying to keep appearances in an already very, very ruined date. Either way, she appreciated it. She had a lot of things to think about. But right now, before she stopped and tried to figure out how her entire worldview had been challenged, she might as well enjoy herself. One more simple thing. It wouldn't hurt. 

"How about one more dance before the night ends?" she asked, with a hopeful look towards Ann. As Clara had expected, she was less upset than she could have been, given she had almost had a proper date. Almost. 

"Oh, all right," her friend said. "One more." 

"And then you'll tell us were you've been?" asked Bucky as they moved back towards the dance floor. 

"Of course," Clara replied, the very picture of innocence. 

Now all she had to do was come up with a decent story. She could do that, she thought. After all, she had just discovered that she was pretty good at improvising. Which meant she had time, right? She could focus on the dancing right now. 

Might as well have fun while it lasted. 


End file.
